Steinbach hoping to attract Ukrainians to live and work in the area

A city with European roots is hoping to attract Ukrainian refugees.

Fifty-five Ukrainians and their families boarded a bus Wednesday morning, taking the trip from Winnipeg to Steinbach as the city is trying to entice people to work and live there.

Maryna Rehent came to Canada from Ukraine two weeks ago on the chartered flight to Winnipeg.

“I was really crying because everyone is open and everyone wants to help,” said Rehent. “I’m strongly thinking about relocating here to Steinbach if I’m lucky and find a job here.”

She’s part of this group of Ukrainians participating in a day-long tour of Steinbach—seeing what the city has to offer.

Rehent is now waiting for her 15-year-old daughter to arrive Thursday—and she’s hoping their future is in Steinbach.

“I’m looking for a safe neighbourhood for her.”

The dozens of potential Steinbach residents were welcomed at the Mennonite Heritage Centre, learning about the city’s history.

The centre’s executive director, Gary Dyck, says they connected strongly with the two monuments brought to Steinbach from Ukraine.

“I told them if you want to touch a piece of Ukraine touch this monument,” he said. “There were like 30 people in the group, all of a sudden all these hands were reaching for it.”

The Ukrainians then hopped on a bus to visit 15 local businesses with job openings. Businesses such as Hylife and Smitty’s were at the tour’s job fair in the afternoon.

“They can see the city, see what we have to offer, and also leave the city today maybe with a job,” said Anna Mondor, the director of Economic Development.

She says Steinbach is the fastest growing city in Manitoba and they have more than 400 open jobs.

“The biggest challenge that we are hearing from our business community is the lack of people to fill those job vacancies,” Steinbach chamber of commerce President Christine Beaumont said.

Many of the 20,000 people who live in Steinbach have eastern European roots, which is why Mayor Earl Funk thinks Steinbach is the perfect fit.

“Faith is very important to us, family is very important to us, and also having fun is very important to us,” Funk said. “We understand the difficulty. We understand fitting into a community and building from nothing.”

He says many families have their own stories of leaving home to come to Canada.